Harline Essay - 1963 Words

Wesley Rudolph September 16, 2012 History 104 Miracles at the Jesus Oak: Book Review Section one: Miracles at the Jesus Oak is the third of Harline’s contextual biographies. The others include, A bishop’s Tale: Mathias Hovius among His Flock in seventeenth –Century Flanders and Conversions: Two Family Stories From the Reformation and Modern America. His books were adopted by the Yale Printing Press and are used widely in many Universities all across the country. Many Religious groups have taken Harline’s scholarly works and used them as educational tools and belief strengtheners in the Church. Harline is now a history professor at Brigham Young University. Harline received inspiration for his historical texts from extensive†¦show more content†¦She had heard of his healing powers and was desperate for a miracle of her own. As she traveled to her destination she was side tracked by a woman on the street that told her â€Å"The blessings are now done here, in the tailor’s chapel† . This brought up the motifs of greed and as you read on you find out that the woman does this repeatedly. People in need will believe anything to help their situations and in this chapter you exactly see that. This also leads you to think that if these people were in fact healed at the tailor’s chapel could it all just be psychological? Could it just be in their heads? They believe so badly and put all of their faith in god to provide them with a miracle that they believe anything. They could just heal naturally on their own, but to them it is considered a miracle. This allows you to question the validity of all miracles. The fourth chapter tells the story of the communion thief. The main character in this story is a troubled ex prostitute who’s forced to live in a miserable house dealing with religious aspects she doesn’t agree with. She steals the holy host during sacrament and confides in her roommate who then rats her out. This causes a whirlwind of problem s for her. This story heavily looked at criminal behavior. The documents Harline read explained how she was tortured and interrogated to probe at her and figure out why she did what she did. The last chapter of the book ties all of the issues from the other chapter